Story highlightsNigeria has a booming wedding industryThe trend is driven by the need for extravagant themed weddingsWeddings in Nigeria are massive affairs, sometimes with 2,000 guests
Weddings in Nigeria are colorful, imaginative and extravagant productions, with guest lists of up to two,000 folks considered standard.
"In England, if you had 400 folks at a wedding ceremony, that would be regarded as a huge amount," bridalwear and couture designer Yemi Osunkoya explained.
"In Nigeria, if you had 400 visitors, people would say 'Oh, dear,' " he continues. "The more (individuals) you have there, the far more pals it appears you have."
Osunkoya should know. With his wedding gowns extremely sought-right after by Nigerian brides, he attends about 15 of his clients' weddings in Nigeria each yr, and his London-based mostly label, Kosibah, is at the heart of that country's booming wedding market. Last month, it was 1 of 129 organizations exhibiting at Lagos' Wed Expo exhibition, which drew ten,000 attendees in excess of two days.
"I would say weddings are 1 of the fastest increasing industries in Nigeria proper now," mentioned the event's organizer, Akin Eso. "A great deal of men and women phrase it that they're 'going into events' -- but the funds is truly in the wedding sector."
The publisher of Wed magazine, a wedding ceremony-focused title that launched in Nigeria final year, Eso said the standard Nigerian wedding ceremony has evolved in latest many years into a higher-idea "manufacturing."
"There is constantly been this joy around weddings, but now there's also this entire creativity: It's a lot more like a production, and no person knows where it is going to stop," he explained. "Individuals just think about it and make it occur."
Themes this kind of as a "snow wedding ceremony" would involve decorating the entire hall to match the notion, he stated.
"Ten many years back, you would generally do all the arrangements for the wedding ceremony by yourself or with your pal," he said. "Now, for each facet of the wedding ceremony there's a vendor that can support you."
The trend has been driven by the numerous younger Nigerians residing overseas, who had introduced ambitious concepts for wedding ceremony themes, along with the idea of the wedding planner: a professional event organizer who could realize the satisfied couple's vision for their large day, usually at their parents' expense.
Osunkoya said families generally put significantly hard work and expense into the event, as a wedding ceremony was an important standing symbol -- despite the fact that "not in a damaging way."
"It really is showing how effectively you have accomplished, and for the bride and groom, this is their time," he stated.
"Most instances in Nigeria, the dad and mom take care of the wedding -- and there are a lot of weddings exactly where it truly is just a blank check out," he said. "It s a thing of joy to have your children married, so most of the time, the mothers and fathers want to go all out. That's in which you see total creativity."
Uk-based makeup artist Lola Ibekwe caters specifically to Nigerian weddings and has been employed by brides who fly her, all expenditures paid, to Nigeria for their weddings.
She mentioned, "Nigerian brides actually know what they want and demand the extremely greatest. Some of them have been influenced by the large weddings of Hollywood stars and will not thoughts paying massive to accomplish the ideal seem on their large day. Most of the brides I function with reserve a big component of their price range for makeup due to the fact the photos will final a lifetime."
There are two parts to a Nigerian wedding, Osunkoya explained. The first ceremony was çåæ é the "traditional wedding," occasionally also referred to as the engagement. This was normally attended by fewer guests -- only family members and close close friends -- and may possibly be held in area that 1 of the couple initially hailed from.
The couple would put on traditional dress, with the bride generally wearing a traditional material gifted to her by her new mother and father-in-law, often sewn into a contemporary Afrocentric design.
The second, "white wedding ceremony" -- with a guest record at the reception potentially working into the 1000's -- could follow days or even months later. For this, the bride would dress in a white bridal gown and the bridal party formal attire. The most well-known time of year for weddings was in December, when expatriate Nigerians return from abroad and can encounter a routine of weddings 7 days a week.
Another distinctive attribute of the Nigerian wedding ceremony was the wearing of "aso-ebi." The phrase, which translates from the Yoruba language as "clothes of the family," refers to the garments of matching material worn by the bride's family members and buddies at the ceremony.
"You have received 2,000 individuals there, so it is a way of spotting men and women you are meant to be with," stated Osunkoya. Though, in recent years, it is not unusual to see the entire celebration wearing the aso-ebi.
Even though there are occasional grumbles that the trend for elaborate weddings had gone also far, no one seems to thoughts on the day. "Not everybody is equal or has entry to the very same quantity of wealth, but everybody aspires to it," Osunkoya said.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/12/globe/africa/nigeria-wedding ceremony-boom/index.html
Weddings in Nigeria are colorful, imaginative and extravagant productions, with guest lists of up to two,000 folks considered standard.
"In England, if you had 400 folks at a wedding ceremony, that would be regarded as a huge amount," bridalwear and couture designer Yemi Osunkoya explained.
"In Nigeria, if you had 400 visitors, people would say 'Oh, dear,' " he continues. "The more (individuals) you have there, the far more pals it appears you have."
Osunkoya should know. With his wedding gowns extremely sought-right after by Nigerian brides, he attends about 15 of his clients' weddings in Nigeria each yr, and his London-based mostly label, Kosibah, is at the heart of that country's booming wedding market. Last month, it was 1 of 129 organizations exhibiting at Lagos' Wed Expo exhibition, which drew ten,000 attendees in excess of two days.
"I would say weddings are 1 of the fastest increasing industries in Nigeria proper now," mentioned the event's organizer, Akin Eso. "A great deal of men and women phrase it that they're 'going into events' -- but the funds is truly in the wedding sector."
The publisher of Wed magazine, a wedding ceremony-focused title that launched in Nigeria final year, Eso said the standard Nigerian wedding ceremony has evolved in latest many years into a higher-idea "manufacturing."
"There is constantly been this joy around weddings, but now there's also this entire creativity: It's a lot more like a production, and no person knows where it is going to stop," he explained. "Individuals just think about it and make it occur."
Themes this kind of as a "snow wedding ceremony" would involve decorating the entire hall to match the notion, he stated.
"Ten many years back, you would generally do all the arrangements for the wedding ceremony by yourself or with your pal," he said. "Now, for each facet of the wedding ceremony there's a vendor that can support you."
The trend has been driven by the numerous younger Nigerians residing overseas, who had introduced ambitious concepts for wedding ceremony themes, along with the idea of the wedding planner: a professional event organizer who could realize the satisfied couple's vision for their large day, usually at their parents' expense.
Osunkoya said families generally put significantly hard work and expense into the event, as a wedding ceremony was an important standing symbol -- despite the fact that "not in a damaging way."
"It really is showing how effectively you have accomplished, and for the bride and groom, this is their time," he stated.
"Most instances in Nigeria, the dad and mom take care of the wedding -- and there are a lot of weddings exactly where it truly is just a blank check out," he said. "It s a thing of joy to have your children married, so most of the time, the mothers and fathers want to go all out. That's in which you see total creativity."
Uk-based makeup artist Lola Ibekwe caters specifically to Nigerian weddings and has been employed by brides who fly her, all expenditures paid, to Nigeria for their weddings.
She mentioned, "Nigerian brides actually know what they want and demand the extremely greatest. Some of them have been influenced by the large weddings of Hollywood stars and will not thoughts paying massive to accomplish the ideal seem on their large day. Most of the brides I function with reserve a big component of their price range for makeup due to the fact the photos will final a lifetime."
There are two parts to a Nigerian wedding, Osunkoya explained. The first ceremony was çåæ é the "traditional wedding," occasionally also referred to as the engagement. This was normally attended by fewer guests -- only family members and close close friends -- and may possibly be held in area that 1 of the couple initially hailed from.
The couple would put on traditional dress, with the bride generally wearing a traditional material gifted to her by her new mother and father-in-law, often sewn into a contemporary Afrocentric design.
The second, "white wedding ceremony" -- with a guest record at the reception potentially working into the 1000's -- could follow days or even months later. For this, the bride would dress in a white bridal gown and the bridal party formal attire. The most well-known time of year for weddings was in December, when expatriate Nigerians return from abroad and can encounter a routine of weddings 7 days a week.
Another distinctive attribute of the Nigerian wedding ceremony was the wearing of "aso-ebi." The phrase, which translates from the Yoruba language as "clothes of the family," refers to the garments of matching material worn by the bride's family members and buddies at the ceremony.
"You have received 2,000 individuals there, so it is a way of spotting men and women you are meant to be with," stated Osunkoya. Though, in recent years, it is not unusual to see the entire celebration wearing the aso-ebi.
Even though there are occasional grumbles that the trend for elaborate weddings had gone also far, no one seems to thoughts on the day. "Not everybody is equal or has entry to the very same quantity of wealth, but everybody aspires to it," Osunkoya said.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/12/globe/africa/nigeria-wedding ceremony-boom/index.html